Patent Filings Roundup: Second Mystery Entity Challenges $2.2 Billion VLSI/Fortress Patents; IP Edge Files Almost 50 New Complaints; NPE K.Mizra Targets ISPs

It was a busy week for patent filings in the district courts, with 113 complaints filed, fueled particularly by nearly 50 (!) IP Edge complaints, primarily filed in the Western District of Texas’s Waco Division; the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), on the other hand, was slightly down, with 29—the bulk coming from Intel counterpunching with seven challenges against AQUIS-asserted patents. 

Second Mystery Entity Files IPR on VLSI Patents: A second unknown LLC of recent vintage has filed an IPR challenge against the patents that formed the basis of the recent $2.18 billion judgment against Intel in Judge Albright’s court. The first, OpenSky, LLC, effectively copied earlier challenges by Intel—ones denied under Fintiv for a trial date that was pushed back but eventually led to the judgment. This second, Patent Quality Assurance, LLC, appears to be tied to Austin-area former Baker Botts lawyers, but is of murky origin. The petition purports to fix problems with the OpenSky petition (namely, the retention of different testifying experts) and begs institution over the other. Motivations remain murky, but one can imagine the value attached to having the Office hear the challenge on the merits.

K.Mizra NPE expands, targets ISPs: A set of patents of older non-practicing entity (NPE) vintage, but newer ownership/management, has moved on to target the big four major U.S internet service providers, namely AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. The patents’ disclosure, while using oddly cryptic nomenclature, includes relatively short claims directed to generic base station communication. The patent has previously been asserted against others. The patents and K.Mizra’s pedigree include another subsidiary, Ginegar IP, and patents collected from Daedalus Blue and other NPE entities; K.Mizra appears to be a foreign-owned entity controlled by Charles Jourdan Hausman.

IP Edge Files Almost 50: By my count, known IP Edge subsidiaries this week filed 47 complaints—almost half of all district court filings—including newer entities like Orbit Licensing, which is asserting patents licensed from Chinese company Huawei against U.S. companies. Those subsidiaries include Swirlate IP LLC, Altair Logix LLC, Crimson IP LLC, Orbit Licensing, Invincible IP, Lecrew Licensing LLC, Mellaconic IP LLC, Tunnel IP LLC, and more; most follow the single patent file-and-settle strategy, though there is some evidence (such as with Orbit Licensing) that IP Edge is changing strategies and investing in bigger portfolios, including a number of IP Bridge-transferred patents.

PTAB (29)

District Court (113)

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